The Coast Guard and a team of contractors successfully deployed a subsea system that is able to contain and collect oil being discharged from the Taylor Energy Company Mississippi Canyon 20 toppled oil platform site 11 miles south of the Louisiana shoreline. The containment system is actively collecting oil.
The installation of the containment system is a major milestone in the Coast Guard’s efforts to contain the Taylor Energy MC20 oil spill that has affected the waters off the Gulf Coast for 14 years.
“After monitoring the system for several weeks we have determined that the system is meeting federal containment standards,” said Capt. Kristi Luttrell, the Coast Guard’s federal on-scene coordinator for the incident. “At this time the system is working and the once predominately large surface sheen has been reduced to barely visible. We will continue to monitor the containment system’s performance and make necessary adjustments to maximize containment of the spill.”
The company’s platform sank as the result of an underwater mudslide triggered by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Taylor Energy plugged some, but not all, of the 25 broken pipes, and sued the Coast Guard when it intervened to stop the spill.
